How To Find Volunteers To Clear Out Your Flooded Home, and How To Volunteer To Help Clear Out Flooded Homes

This just-launched map tool from civic-minded hacking co-op Sketch City is meant to help homeowners who could use help clearing out soggy carpet and other materials from their flooded homes connect with people willing to volunteer their time and effort to help with that work. It’s called the Texas Muck Map — muck being a useful term in Houston these days. Mucking, in this context (and context truly is everything), means removing carpet or flooring, stripping drywall that was exposed to moisture and is at risk of growing mold, clearing out dirt, furniture, and other junk, and generally getting a flooded home ready to dry out.

Harvey has made sure a lot of homes around these parts will need mucking — over the next several weeks at least. Is that work you or someone you’re helping needs doing? Or work you or people you know are able to help with? The map above identifies the locations of homes people have added to it that need mucking — and the approximate locations of would-be volunteer mucker teams or individuals. (The map might appear sparsely populated now, but if you spread word about it it’s likely to fill up quickly.) Click on any of the icons to see details and contact info, which you can use to make your own connections.

To add your ready-to-be-mucked home to the map, click here and fill out the form. If you’d like to volunteer to muck homes,click here and fill out the form. To see the map in its own browser window, click here, or just go to muckmap.harveyneeds.org. Also on that site: some guidelines for using the map, a disclaimer, and links to several helpful resources about mucking and related issues.

I had trouble getting it to post my post through my computer but it worked on my I-phone. Old browser maybe? Also, I managed to goof up on the input – twice! And I can’t figure out how to edit my post. A bit buggy perhaps, but hopefully it helps people connect! I’m ready to help anyone who needs help Mucking!

Thanks everyone for the feedback! A crew of software developers have been working nonstop incorporating your feedback and fixing the bugs. Please keep the feedback coming and thank you for all that you are doing to aid the relief and recovery process.